Commentary: “Transcranial stimulation of the frontal lobes increases propensity of mind-wandering without changing meta-awareness”

Abstract

In 2015, a seminal study reported that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) above the left DLPFC could increase MW propensity in healthy adults (Axelrod et al., 2015). Participants were asked to perform the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), while MW was quantified using thought-probes both during and immediately following tDCS. Recently, the first author of the original study reported a successful replication (Axelrod et al., 2018). This second study seems to provide converging evidence for the utility of anodal tDCS above the DLPFC in increasing MW propensity.Based on our team’s own work, here we critically discuss and evaluate concerns about the replicability of the reported effects.